Get a Ticket at a Pay-By-Plate Kiosk? Let Us Know!

Posted on 16 Mar 2023
By PPA Staff
In Blog

As long as there are humans on earth, there will be inadvertent human error — and parking tickets are not foreign to that philosophy, especially if it’s one of your first times using our pay-by-plate parking kiosks.

We get it. Mistakes happen — and we include ourselves in that statement. But there is ultimately a silver lining in each mistake we make: An opportunity to learn.

So if you ever get a parking ticket despite paying at one of our kiosks, check out below for what may have happened — and how we can make it right.

License Plate Entered into Kiosk Incorrectly:

Entering a license plate number incorrectly into a parking kiosk is one of the most common reasons for receiving a meter expired ticket while having a paid parking session.

For example, your license plate may be PA ABC1234, but when you entered the plate into the kiosk for a parking session, you entered PA ABC1233 by mistake.

This means that when a Parking Enforcement Officer (PEO) checks for payment on their handheld device, they are looking for a payment associated with PA ABC1234, which they will not find- and they will issue a meter expired parking ticket.

So, double-check to ensure your license plate number is correct while paying at the kiosk to avoid a ticket.

Tip: If you haven’t memorized your license plate number, just take a picture and save it on your phone for future reference.

Selecting the Wrong Zone Number:

The second most common reason a ticket can be issued is if the payment zone number entered into the kiosk does not match the correct zone. After parking your vehicle, it’s important to take note of the payment zone number displayed on posted signs.

Remember: Each street block and street side has a dedicated payment zone number you should reference when making payment.

Parking Enforcement Officer (PEO) Errors:

From time to time, our PEOs can make mistakes. Here are some things that may occur when our PEOs are on their patrols:

PEO incorrectly enters the license plate number when confirming payment.
PEO checks the wrong payment zone number when confirming payment.
PEO’s handheld device is experiencing a communication error with the payment server.

Getting Your Ticket Cancelled:

Good news: The PPA provides a one-time courtesy cancellation for inadvertent user errors or any PPA-related errors when making payments at our pay-by-plate kiosks. If you’ve gotten a ticket because of one of the above scenarios, we can help cancel it as long as you were in an active parking session when the ticket was issued.

Here’s what to do:

Step 1: Take note of your parking ticket number.

Step 2: Obtain a copy of your parking receipt through one of the below options: